These Stocks Are Marching With Demand Madness March 18th

The Dow Jones (NYSE:DIA) is higher at 11,857, the S&P 500 (NYSE:SPY) is increasing to 1278 and the Nasdaq (NASDAQ:QQQQ) is slightly higher at 2,643 on the 53rd trading day of 2011, and here is a group of stocks making moves on our radar and the reasons why:

1) JPMorgan Chase & Co. (NYSE:JPM): Shares are up 2.42% to $45.63 per share today. Over 58.50 million shares have traded hands today relative to the average 33 million shares traded daily. The company increased its quarterly dividend to $.25 cents a share from $.05 cents, payable starting April 30. JPM also authorized new $15 billion stock repurchase plan, with up to $8 billion approved for this year. J.P. Morgan bought about $3 billion of its own shares last year.JPMorgan Chase & Co. provides global financial services and retail banking. The Company provides services such as investment banking, treasury and securities services, asset management, private banking, card member services, commercial banking, and home finance. JP Morgan Chase serves business enterprises, institutions, and individuals.

2) SunTrust Banks, Inc. (NYSE:STI): Shares are up 4.88% to $29.63 per share today. Over 14 million shares have traded hands compared to the daily average of 5.25 million shares. The company announced a $1 billion stock offering, which the bank will use to repay $4.85 billion in TARP securities. SunTrust’s repayment is still the largest amount owed to the government bailout plan. SunTrust Banks, Inc. is a super-regional bank holding company. The Company’s subsidiary banks operate in Florida, Georgia, Maryland, North Carolina, South Carolina, Tennessee, Virginia, and the District of Columbia. SunTrust provides a wide range of financial services such as credit cards, mortgage banking, insurance, brokerage and capital markets services.

3) Amazon.com, Inc. (NASDAQ:AMZN): Shares are up .4% to $161.60 per share today. 5.75 million shares have traded hands so far. Struggling states are hounding Amazon.com about collecting sales taxes in the near future. The stock rose above its weekly low of $160.76 per share. Amazon.com, Inc. is an online retailer that offers a wide range of products. The Company’s products include books, music, videotapes, computers, electronics, home and garden, and numerous other products. Amazon offers personalized shopping services, Web-based credit card payment, and direct shipping to customers.

4) LDK Solar Co., Ltd. (NYSE:LDK): Shares are down 8.8% to $11.39 per share today. Over 16 million shares have traded hands. Even as insiders are selling shares, the company reported net income was $145.2 million, or $1.09 per share, beating estimates of $.92 cents per share, relative to a net loss of $24.3 million, or a loss of $.22 cents per share a year ago. Also, revenue more than tripled to $920.9 million from $304.6 million in the same period a year ago. Analysts expected revenue of $877.12 million. LDK Solar Company, Ltd. manufactures multicrystalline solar wafers. The Company sells multicrystalline wafers globally to manufacturers of photovoltaic products including solar cells and solar modules. Solar wafers are the principal raw material used to produce solar cells which convert sunlight into electricity.

5) Lorillard Inc. (NYSE:LO): Shares are up 9.39% to $86.07 per shares. Over 13 million shares have traded hands today relative to the 2.52 million daily trading average. According to briefing.com, the FDA concluded that the removal of menthol cigarettes from the marketplace would benefit public health in the U.S., despite the fact that they found there was no difference in disease risk between smokers of menthol cigarettes and smokers of non-menthol cigarettes. The FDA did acknowledge that the potential for an illegal market in menthol cigarettes exists and therefore noted that should FDA choose to take some policy action that restricts the availability of menthol cigarettes, that the FDA consult with the appropriate experts and carry out relevant analysis in this area.Lorillard, Inc. manufactures and sells cigarettes. The Company produces cigarettes for both the premium and discount segments of the domestic cigarette market for sale to distributors and retailers in the United States.

6) Ciena Corporation (NASDAQ:CIEN): Shares are down 6.63% to $23.10 per share. 9.5 million shares have traded hands today. Optical networking stocks continue to get slaughtered this week. Maybe next week will bring upon the rebound value buyers the market is awaiting for the sector. Ciena Corporation develops and markets communications network platforms and software, and offers professional services. The Company’s broadband access, data and optical networking platforms, software tools, and global network services support worldwide telecom and cable/MSO services providers, and enterprise and government networks.

7) Vodafone Group Plc (NASDAQ:VOD): Shares are up .29% to $27.73 per share today. Almost 8 million shares have traded hands today. A released report today showed Vodafone was a big winner in India as mobile phone users keep their phone numbers when they switch carriers. India is the second biggest mobile phone market in the world. Vodafone Group Plc provides a range of mobile telecommunications services, including voice and data communications. Vodafone has equity interests in 28 countries and Partner Networks in a further 7 countries with almost all the Group’s mobile subsidiaries operating principally under the brand name Vodafone. In the United States their associated undertaking operates as Verizon Wireless.

8) Sirius XM Radio Inc. (NASDAQ:SIRI): Shares are down 1.45% to $1.70 per share today. Over 64 million shares have traded hands so far. Sirius updated their iPod, iPhone, and iPad (NASDAQ:AAPL) Internet Radio Apps. Sirius XM Radio Inc. broadcasts various channels of audio from its satellites. The Company provides its services throughout the continental United States for a monthly subscription fee. Sirius delivers various streams of commercial-free music in every genre, as well as streams of news, sports, weather, talk, comedy, and public radio.

9) Hatteras Financial Corp. (NYSE:HTS): Shares are down over 4% to $28.26 per share today. Over 8 million shares traded hands today. Hatteras Financial priced a public offering of 14.5 million shares at a price of $28.50 per share. Hatteras Financial Corporation is a mortgage real estate investment trust. The trust acquires adjustable-rate and hybrid adjustable-rate residential mortgage pass-through securities issued or guaranteed by U.S. Government agencies or U.S. Government-sponsored entities.

10) Harris Corporation (NYSE:HRS): Shares are up 2.56% to $46.41 per share. Over 1.45 million shares have traded hands today. The company announced its earnings per share for the upcoming fiscal year will range from $5.10 to $5.20. The average estimate among analysts surveyed by FactSet had been $5.03 per share. Harris executives forecast fiscal 2012 revenue of $6.4 billion to $6.6 billion. THarris Corporation is an international communications equipment company focused on product, system, and service solutions. The Company provides a range of mission critical communications products, systems and services for global markets, including defense communications and electronics, government communications, broadcast communications and wireless transmission network solutions.